Unknown mold odor in master bath

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Being new to this forum I hope I'm doing this right. I've read over four hours or so of topics and didn't find my problem there....For over four months now I have to smell mold coming from the bathroom. It has caused me medical problems on top of my other bad health. There are no leaks in the tub, 5ft shower, sink or commode. I've paid for a moisture control company to come out to find the leak and they were not able to. I did have a leaky skylight but that was finally repaired after several months trying to find someone to come out and replace it. He checked for leaks and mold in the ceiling incl. the insulation & there was no soggy roof. To be safe he used Kilz sealer in the space between the ceiling and roof & inside area around the skylight. And I checked it a few days later to make sure there was no mold smell. The majority of the odor was coming from the shower, tub and under the sinks. I've had my septic cleaned and finally found a plumber to come out to clean the inside drain lines. $200 or so dollars later he cleaned the air lines on the roof and replaced a fitting under the garden tub that may have been letting the odor in if it wasn't working right. One of the workers went under to see about cleaning the line and told us that the drain line you use to clean the pipe out was 10 inches from my brick wall which prevents them from snaking it out. And that my entire bath, washer, and kitchen sink drain towards the other side of the home to the main drain line and then back to the opposite side of the home where the M.bath is and my septic system. In other words from the left side of the home to the right side and back to the left side thru the main drain to where the septic is. Of course we had some cold weather and with the heater going the mold smell was not there. And no one can find a leak. I personally with my 13 yr old granddaughter crawled underneath this home to check the drain and discovered I was lied to because the clean out was at least 10 feet from the brick side and except for having to drag the snake all the way to the other side of the home underneath there was plenty of room to snake the drain. I now I have to look for another plumber. But can anyone help me as to where the mold smell is coming from or how to get it. I think I have to have the underbelly and insulation removed in that whole area to expose the pipes. Note: There is quite a bit of cross over ducts around there.

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Char, Hi & welcome. It sounds to me like you have had your share of frustration. One thing that comes to mind is ventilation under your home. It sounds to me like you have had most of the common causes checked already. Did anyone check under the tub? It is possible for tubs to crack and water ends up on the floor under them, that is a potential source. Look closely at the tub bottom for cracks usually near the drain. Odors can be hard to pinpoint and may require (as you know) a lot of work to find. Did the plumber check for leaky traps? That could be another source.
I'm sure others will add some more ideas for you. Greg

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Hi Charlotte

Where is the deck in relation to the master bath?

I once chased an odor like the one you described. It turned out to be: the deck splashed rain on the home and caused the bottom corner (where the wall and floor meet) to rot/mold and mildew. The odor was coming up inside the wall.

Harry

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Hi Charlotte,

Welcome to the forum. Glad you found us, hopefully we can help you pin point the area of the odor.

Are you saying that your master bath tub and shower are separate units? If so after reading your profile I am wondering if maybe you use the shower unit more than the tub...if this is the case then the trap in the tub may have dried up and just requires you to run the tap every so often for a minute or so. LOL, this happened to me in our singlewide. Our son moved out and nobody used the shower/tub unit.

Please respond to these post if you would like further assistance or let us know that it has been resolved and what the problem area was. Doing so allows us to troubleshoot there homes as well.

Happy New Year

~Yanita~

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I Hope I'm replying the right way. Greg, I have regular sliding black plastic 16 X 8 house vents in the brick underpinning. I do not use the separate garden tub except during hurricane season to keep it filled for pending emergencies. When its filled there's no leak as the level is steady. Looking underneath in the bathroom it is dry. An the separate 5 ft. shower on opposite wall in the same room is also dry underneath. The shower has the most mold odor and when I use it the mold odor increases after a while. I took the back wall of the piping of the shower and the bottom is viewed and it is dry as a bone also. The plumbers assistance went under the home and said there was a sub floor under the shower and tub and they would have to cut thru this to see the pan and I guess the trap. I didn't want them to cut anything until I could get a drawing or something to view on how the drains and pans run underneath. Is there a sub floor? And I'd like to add there is no mold smell under the home.

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Hi Yanita,
In my reply to greg I stated the tub and shower are separate. The plumber suggested running some water in the tub every now and then. I have done so maybe twice in the past week-in-a half. If this does happen when not in use why hasn't there been any mold odor in my other bath (with combined tub shower). Because that doesn't get used but once every 2 or so months or even longer. This bath is on the opposite side of the mobile home.
I'm sorry for not replying sooner. And if you read this Harry this is where my deck is in relation to the M bath. The M Bath is against the left side wall, then comes the washer & dryer area (with outside door to small opened wood deck (6'X4'), then comes the kitchen which is about 12 feet long to main cemented and bricked deck with large sliding glass door.The sliding glass door area is my dining room and then comes the family room with fireplace. All this is on the backside half of the dbl wide.

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Char, One way to inspect under the tub may be with a small telescopic mirro and flashlight. any auto supply store has the mirror. If you can get to the pipes you may be able to get a look under the tub. Greg

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Pockets are empty for the next week and I have difficulty with driving right now with blurry vision.
But can you please tell me how to get to the pipes. I know this plumber doesn't know how. I always thought that the pipes and drains can be seen if you put an opening in the belly board and remove some of the insulation. Oh, I forgot under the tub and shower you can see a drain pipe running down and there's a good siae opening where the drain goes down into. Is that where I should look? Sorry I'm so dumb about these things.

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Hi Char,

You are not dumb...typically most people do not know the answers to these questions either...it's only when we have to know that we learn!

Ok, with everything said I understand that the smell gets worse after or during your shower? Where is your water heater located?

Is your shower original to the home or something you had installed?

~Yanita~

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Hi Yanita,
I just wrote a reply but it didn't post. I took a picture of the bathrm. The description is on the right you can see a little bit of a wall which is the 5' shower that is behind the door. The you can see the commode and linen closet and the door to the walk-in-closet. On the left right across from the shower is a dbl sink and of course you can see the garden tub. The water heater is in back of the commode and there is another smaller walk in closet that's in back of the shower wall. This closet is how I get to the water heater which I've checked a couple of times and the area is dry as a bone just like everything in the bathroom.
I may not be able to continue tonight as I've taken my meds and some make me sleepy. But will come back this evening considering this is 2:25 am in the morning.
Thank you for trying to help me!
Oh, the shower is the original.

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Hi,
I've been busy and have gone and crawled under the mobile home. There are a lot of areas that the bellyboard is torn. There's one spot that I wasn't able to get closed to as I was tuckered. But its buy the center beam and the board has a large long area along the beam with shredded pieces hanging down. I forgot to take my camera, but I can't see any drain lines going into the main drain on the M Bath end of the home. Now I have my washing machine and kitchen sink next to the bath but I don't know where anything drains to. There was this approximate 24"X24" thin like board that is covering the area I believe is underneath the garden tub. A corner was pulled back and when I aimed my flashlight into the opening I spotted a small area of insulation that has some mildew on it. No visible leaks but definitely mildew. Now the plumber was underneath and didn't say anything about that. Now I'm back to trying to find another plumber to come out. There is a curious thing under there that seems to be in the area of my washer. It about a large 4" or more gray pipe that comes straight down from the floor and touching the ground. I just couldn't move much to get over there to see it too good.
Also, even though I'm not supposed to be crawling around underneath I also decided to lay on my bathroom floor and look underneath the shower area. When the plumber did he said he saw nothing wet or leaking. Well I found what looks like a wet area that runs along the front of the shower where the sliding door is. Also the trim along the front area of the shower looked like it had been wet a few times. I know when I take a shower it doesn't leak down to the floor but I'm wondering if where the sliding door is it could be cracked under the rim of the door. And in the wall area under the shower there is a 3 or 4 inch opening on one corner of the one piece shower. My mice have been in there. Is there any kind of mesh that I can put around it to keep the mice out of the walls of the one piece shower? I didn't see any mold but some one will have to go under the home and see if possibly the wetness goes down underneath. I'm going to have to take it easy and make a lot of phone calls and internet searching to find a trust worthy plumber that won't take advantage of me. That seems to happen to me allot. There's no one around that I know of that's used a plumber so they can't recommend anyone to me. This last one I had I got through my electric company. I'll be checking back to see if there's anyone who knows how to take care of that opening in the shower wall. I'll be trying to figure a way to dry that area along the front of the shower and of course clean the outside area beneath the trim. You all have a good day.

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Hi Char, Welcome to the forum!

Okay, you've hired the so called experts and gotten the run around. The problem has not been fixed. The next step I would take, would be to hire a independent mobile home inspector, that's certified! Yes, it's an extra cost, but it's a whole lot less than hiring a bunch of folks to come out and 'fix' things.

You need to pin point the area that's leaking. If you can't see it yourself, then you need to hire a third party, not benefiting by the repairs to check it out.

There is a cost up front, but it will be a whole lot less when you know exactly where the problem lies.

Maureen

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I don't know if this might help or not, but when we bought our new (used) home. We tore out the carpet in the master bath. Not because it was bad or anything, just didn't want carpet in the bathroom. What we found under it, made me sick. In front of the shower, the sliding glass door leaked on the right bottom. Also, where a bathmat had stayed, and stayed wet, it went right through the carpet. A perfect mold of a bathmat on the floor, and the wood had rotted out there in the corner. I'm glad, I didn't like the carpet, or we would have never found this problem.
dew

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Char, I had a feeling that you would find a leak somewhere, and as you found it is not always easy to get to. I am curious as to what the pipe under the washer is. Greg

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Hi everyone,
Boy it sure is hard for this old lady to get around. It has taken me till today to get a mirror that extends so I can see under the shower. There is definitely mold there, how much I really couldn't tell too good. The leak under the shower door was not the problem. And I knew when I purchased this home I did not want carpeting in the bathrooms. And I have that NUCOR floor that does not expand when anything wets it. But getting back to the shower. The cut out opening has mold on the edges. The wood beam is molded (green) like you see on outdoor porches. There is also some mold on the insulation. How much I can't tell. I don't remember who suggested on getting that extendable mirror from the auto parts store but "Thank You!". Even though it didn't extend but 14" I taped it onto a piece of wood that made it longer. If my eyes were better I probably could see more. I could see what looks like a spring running across a distance from the opening. Also, there looked to be like an accordion type pipe under there, it was too far for my eyes to focus on it very good. The plumber that was here and bilked me had said that I have a sub floor. Could this be true. I am unable to go back under the house at this time till me pains go away some. I still have not found anyone to come out and get under this home. People just don't want to mess with mobile homes even though there are numerous ones in the area and many, many, mobile home sales lots.
Maureen, who exactly do I look for to come out. The county won't and they don't know anyone who can. Is there a title to this type of person. You know like plumber. It took me almost five months to get the first plumber out here. My health has gotten worse and when I go back to my doctor in about 10 or so days he isn't going to be happy.
Please if there is anyone out there who has any suggestions as to whom I can get out here let me know. I live in a small town but the town with businesses is about ten miles away and its not that big a town yet.
Greg if and when I find out what that gray pipe is I'll let you know.
Going to another subject. It's about the mold. I know everybody says to clean it with the clorox mix but you also have to clean it with soap and water afterwards to make sure it is completely cleaned. Even the governments on line site tells you this. Also, I know from experience that a fan will not dry wet wood etc., as good as heat will. And another thing if you want a good and easy way to clean your vinyl siding go get some JOMAX by Zinsser. Loews, home depot and some hardware stores sell this by the gallon. You have to mix it exactly as directed and it is applied with a garden sprayer then rinsed off with your garden hose. No pressure washer is needed so no damage to siding if pressure washer has too much psi's. When I first started using it three years ago I cleaned the siding twice a year from the mildew. Last year (sorry 2005)I could only manage a one time cleaning and was not able to get to it in 2006. And just now the mold is returning. So it does work. If you have the black mold embedded in the sofits it looks better after the second cleaning after it dries. It's too cold now to clean but I can wait till spring. I'll be checking back every so often to see if someone can direct me to help. :pint: Wish I could have one lol.